There's No Mystery Here Just a Nightmare
by TsoLan
Summary: My first ever fanfic : D! Mystery Inc visit Maplin House where a psychotic little girl apparently murdered herself and her family. Rumours and myths circulate that they aren't all dead. Is the house empty? Mystery Inc will find out the truth. The hard way. Leave a review. : D
1. Aftermath

**Chapter 1:**

Tonight was the worst and last night of his life. He had gotten away, but he now wished more than anything that he hadn't. At least, he reflected, the river was deep, and the stones in his pockets were heavy. He was in a deep forest, perhaps three miles from Maplin House. No one was with him. The four corpses of his friends were still in the House.

The trees were rustling around him, and at two in the morning, it was bitter. Normally, he might have been unnerved, but after what he had seen but two hours ago, nothing could ever scare him again. Least of all drowning. He stood up. The huge wound in his stomach seared. Fred Jones didn't have to hesitate. He didn't stop to think. He plunged head first into the river. It took three minutes.

**Note: Right, well first of all, this is my very first fanfic. I probably won't do many Scooby Doo's, but as the very first fanfic I read was a Scooby Doo, then it seems fitting to start with this. What actually drives Fred to take his life? Read on. (This is the epilogue) **

**I'll just add quickly, that I don't really know what I'm doing so if I take a while to upload new chapters or something, be patient, I'll work it out.**


	2. Bed and Breakfast

**Chapter 2:**  
"Get up. Get up!"  
"Wha...ahh... It's six in the morning!"  
Norville (Shaggy) Rogers pulled his bed covers back over himself, trying to block out the shape of Fred Jones that stood above him.  
"I told you last night! We're off to Maplin House! Six hour drive, five hour train journey. Ringing any bells?" Fred was in a bad mood. He had been up since five, preparing for the journey. Shaggy had fallen back asleep within twenty seconds of being awoken at five-thirty. They had to leave in less than half an hour.

Groggily, Shaggy threw back the bed clothes and stood up. He went into the kitchen, where Fred was already preparing breakfast for Daphne. Shaggy and Velma found is absolutley stupid. They were clearly in love, yet still, after five years, they were not together.  
"Like, stick me a sausage or two on man. I'm t...tired" murmured Shaggy, stifiling a huge yawn.  
"Make it yourself. Daphne, at least had the courtesy to get up on time! So did Velma." Fred was always like this when they were running late. The group didn't live together, but spent more time at each other's than even their parents. Right now, they were all in Fred and Shaggy's small rented house, on the upper west side of Coolsville. A door opened, and two women and a dog came in.

This was of course Mystery Inc. A group of teenage sleuths and their dog. They solved mysteries, usually featuring someone dressed in a monster costume. There was Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby. Scooby could, to some extent, speak. His forefathers had been used in some scientific experiment. To this day, the unnatural genes survived. Scooby could talk.

This was Mystery Inc. After their breakfast, they were going to solve a mystery. This mystery was the mystery of Maplin House. The last one.

**Keep reading, it will get better. **


	3. The Journey and the Facts

**Chapter 3**

"Yeah. I'm busy, call me back."  
Fred snapped his mobile phone shut. Naturally, the caretaker wasn't answering. Even though he had called them to this mystery. Even though he was taking them to the house. Even though he was the reason that they were now on the highway, with six straight hours of driving to do.

They all sat glumly in the Mystery Machine, with Fred, Daphne and Velma in the front (naturally Daphne was next to Fred.) Shaggy and Scooby occupied the back of the van, where they would eat, play computer games, sleep or eat some more.

"So, run me through this again" Said Daphne.  
"Maplin House. In the middle of some big forest. About thirty miles of trees surround it apparently. It's cut off." Explained Fred.  
"Naturally" Daphne smirked. Why was it that all the mysteries took place in the most cut off of places.  
"Yes. Well, anyway about forty years ago, the Maplin's lived there. Four of them. Terry Maplin, his wife...she was called Terry Maplin as well...their son Keith and their daughter Janice. Well Janice was different. She sustained brain damage following a car crash. From then on she was different."  
"Different in what way?"  
"Mad" Velma cut in. "Psychotic you know. According to what we were told by this caretaker guy, she became insane. She would draw all over herself in red ink, rip the wallpaper off the walls, bite anyone who came near her. Then one day, she got hold of Mr Maplin's shotgun. All four of them died. She shot them all, and then...well...  
"She cut herself to pieces." Fred stepped in. "Literally. With a penknife. The mess was unbelievable " Fred was turning a delicate shade of green, to match the paintwork of the Mystery Machine. Velma thought it best to change topics.

Meanwhile in the back, Scooby and Shaggy were eating. What else?  
"Rhy we ro so far awray?" Asked Scooby. True, the gang were used to long journeys, but this took the biscuit. They lived in Ohio. The nearest city to Maplin House was Boston, and that was three hours away. There was a tiny village about sixty miles from the house, but that was all.  
"Coz, man this mystery is far away." Shaggy retained an unbeleivable patience with his closest friend. He had told Scooby this about a hundred times. "We need to solve it, and then we'll get given a lot of money to by Scooby Snacks."

The rest of the journey was reasonably uneventful, unless you can count Scooby breaking one of the train windows. He saw a burger bar outside, and simply forgot that the window was there. He jumped out. Mystery Inc promised to pay the railway company back, after they had solved the Mystery.

They never once contemplated that they might not solve it.

**Note: Well, I'm already not very pleased with this story. But maybe you'll like it, and I think it might get better as it goes along. I don't think I've done enough proof reading and drafting to be honest, but hey, this is my very first story, so it's never going to come on in leaps and bounds.**


	4. Good Manners Cost Nothing

**Chapter 4:**  
Finally, the train glided into Hollersmith Creek railway station. Fred looked around in dismay. It was tiny and decaying. Once they were off the train, it would take five steps for them fo exit the station. The paintwork on the ticket office used to be white. The true colour of the platform floor was obscured with dirt.

They all slowly climbed out. They were exhausted. Daphne, being Daphne, tripped and nearly fell over whilst getting off, and Scooby was too scared to get off by himself. "Retting off a rain with four regs is hard!" He barked indignantly. So Shaggy had to carry him off. Once they could confirm that his back was not broken or sprained, they left the station, and entered Hollersmith Creek.

"Where's the rest of it?" Laughed Daphne. For the village was absolutely pitiful, less than one hundredth of the size that Coolsville was. You could easy jog around the perimeter about three times in five minutes The actual village itself wasn't too bad though. A small square and fountain in the centre, small white bricked houses dotted here and there, and three shops. Clothes, food, sweets, and a doctors. What else did you need? The whole place was surrounded by a thick blanket of trees. Totally cut off. Fred couldn't imagine what the house itself must be like. He thought the village could be actually quite pleasant But it wasn't. There was something dreadfully wrong. He couldn't put his finger on it. But there was just something awfully wrong about it.

Just then, what looked like a very old and very uncared for Bentley rolled up beside them. A man got out. He was perhaps in his mid fifties, but walked and talked like a much older man. He was unshaven, and grey, with dirty acne coated skin. Him and his car both needed a major wash, Fred thought to himself.

"Right. Mystery Inc is it? Good. I'm Mr Ecinaj, the caretaker. I called you here, seen?" The man spoke with a common, and very strange American accent. Which puzzled Fred. His name certainly wasn't American. His use of the word seen for example. It wasn't something you often heard as a greeting.  
"Yes sir. Fred Jones, Daphne B-Blake, Velma Dinkley, Shaggy Rogers and Scooby Doo. Pleased to meet you." Fred lied.  
"Yeah. So that's the talking hound then, right? Let's hear him then, star."  
The pointless words that this man used on the end of each sentence was already annoying the whole team.  
"Harro! My Rame Scooby!" Scooby smiled, very pleased at the chance to show how amazing he was.  
"Sweet. Good. I believe you. Thought you might all be nuts before I got you here. I was ready to send you all straight back on that rail raider, yeah. Now let's get out of here. Got your stuff? About a half hour drive. Get in." Ecinaj was clearly not one to exchange pleasantries Sighing, the team crammed into the car, Scooby in the front seat. He was too big for the back.

The journey was, by all meanings of the word, the most uncomfortable that Fred had ever experienced. Not only were they all crammed into one, not very large car, but they were being driven with someone who made absolutely no attempt at small talk, and seemed keen to say as little as he could.

"So...uh...we nearly there?"  
"No."  
"All right..."  
One minute later  
"Wine gum?"  
"No."  
"All right..."  
Four minutes later  
"So why exactly did you call us here? What do you want us to do with the house?"  
"I dunno cool. Just do whatever you usually do. I'll pay you whatever I said yeah, when you solve it. End."  
Fred couldn't keep this up. He was physically sweating trying to talk to this man. The speech was really getting to him as well. It was as if this guy had devised his very own accent and slang. Why put a random word on the end of a sentence? Also, his utter flippancy about what he was paying. He really didn't care.

Shaggy came to the rescue.  
"So, like...this place...there are rumours that Mr and Mrs Dead are still alive? How is that possible?" Shaggy nervously asked, hoping that the caretaker would dismiss it as nonsense.  
"Alive? Yeah, they arne't that my man. No they are good and gone you know? Dead. I buried their bodies. The parents, the son and what's left of that girl are all buried. But I'll tell you what. I never come out here during the dark hours, Swivel. Coz someone or something still lives here. I know so."  
Shaggy gulped. This was the exact opposite of what he wanted to hear.  
"How d...do you know?"

"Last time I went out at night...a light came on upstairs as I was driving away. It was in the girls old room. So I drove back, but as I was doing so, I saw someone in there. In the window. Just staring at me. Never seen him before in my life though. Didn't look like no ghost. Looked a little like me if I's honest. Natruz, I thought of burglars Had a gun. I went in to shoot them. They was and not there. No one was there. I searched. I assumed they ran for it, you know. So I turned it off, left and got back in my car. That's when I had what's probably the biggest scare of my life. I looked in the wind mirror He was sitting there. In the back seat. Very seat your in now, red stuff."

Daphne looked terrified. She assumed that she was red stuff. If so, she was sitting in the very seat a ghost, or something had once occupied.  
"Is it not possible that he sneaked out and got in the car?" Asked Velma calmly.  
"Nah, mate." Answered Ecinaj as they pulled into an ancient, dusty driveway, in the wake of Maplin House "Car was locked. No windows broken. He was just sat there, grinning at me. I've not been same since, high and low."

**Note: Don't ask me to explain the pointless and weird phrases that Ecinaj adds to some sentences. I just like being random. Anyway, hope those last few paragraphs gave you the chills. Much more of that to come in the next few chapters.**


	5. Scrape and Thud

**Chapter 5:**

The stereotypical haunted house. Big, derelict, ancient and long since abandoned. None of these described Maplin House. Fred had foreseen a big house, but it was little more than a cottage. It was reasonably well cared for. It was small and whitewashed, but whatever his faults, Ecinaj had clearly looked after it, even though it's four occupants were almost definitely dead. Fred surveyed the house in curiosity. Could someone really hide away in there for forty years? Could there be a secret room or basement, just like in some of their other cases? But even if there was, why would somebody spend forty years living like that? No, he decided in his head. It could be the caretaker trying to scare the locals for fun, or it could be genuine ghosts. No one could live alone in here for forty years.

"Might there be a guest house in the village?" He asked Ecinaj. "When we solve the mystery, we won't want to spend another night here." But , Fred remembered back to that weird, weird village It was so obvious! The problem with it was right under his nose, but he couldn't see it. He decided that maybe here might be better after all.

"Pub, you see. Few rooms. Nut ink else. I'm going to hit the road right now. Good luck, call me if there's problems. I live in house three in the village See me when stuff is all solved up and that. Out." With that, Ecinaj got back into the Bentley, and drove off.

"Let's go in then" said Velma. "I've got the key."  
"That guy is revolting" remarked Daphne. She was known to be one if the nicest girls at high school. She very rarely had anything bad to say about anyone. If she couldn't think of anything nice, she wouldn't speak at all. But it seemed that Ecinaj had really got to her.  
"Ryeah" Scooby sounded equally as disgusted.  
Velma unlocked the door. In she walked, followed by Fred, Scooby, Daphne and Shaggy. "Wow. Not bad" Remarked Shaggy. He was right. It was well furnished, with pleasant, albeit slightly dusty carpeting, a narrow spiral staircase, which led up to five bedrooms and a bathroom, and a combined dining room and living room to the right of the narrow hall. The kitchen was through a small door at the back of the living and dining area.  
The team busied themselves for a few hours, establishing themselves domestically for however long they were to remain here.

Fred and Daphne were in the living room.  
"Did you notice anything weird about that village?" Asked Fred.  
"Nope, not really." Answered Daphne. "Apart from the remoteness."  
"Yeah. I can't put my finger on it. I didn't see anything weird..." Fred felt like kicking himself. It was staring him in the face! He looked up. He screamed. The problem was staring at him in the face. So was an old woman, who was standing at the window.  
"Freddy, what's wrong, honey?" Daphne squeezed his hand, and looked round to see what he was looking at. But there was nothing there.

Because it was now in the room, standing right behind them.

Scrape-thud...scrape-thud...scrape-thud...scrape-thud...

Everyone in Mystery Inc heard the noise. Velma heard it, in the bedroom, Fred and Daphne heard it, but naturally Fred was too scared to really acknowledge it and Shaggy and Scooby heard it in the kitchen. Everyone assumed that another member of Mystery Inc was making the noise.

Everyone was wrong. Night was drawing in.

Elsewhere, Ecinaj sat in his tent in the woods, about five minutes away from the house. He held a picture of Janice, of Terry and Terry and of Keith.

Back in the house, Fred was handed a very strong cup of coffee. The noise had stopped. All five of Mystery Inc were now together. The old woman was hiding.  
An old woman?" Repeated Velma. "But the only people who died that day were the Maplins There was no old woman."  
"I know! But didn't Ecinaj say that he saw a man here he'd never seen before. I tell you. I looked up and she was just standing there!"  
"I never saw her." said Daphne, timidly. "But if Fred says he saw her, I believe him. Why would he make it up?"  
"Thank you!" Fred bellowed. "Well said! Well said!"  
"Calm down!" Velma commanded. I know you are scared. We all are. But there's no use behaving like this! You are meant to be leader! I suggest that we all do something we enjoy for now. Calm us down.

There was a moments pause and then...  
"Well me and Scoob will go and make ourselves some food" Grinned Shaggy.  
"I need to repaint my toenails" said Daphne, leaving the room to fetch her nail polish from her handbag.  
"I'll go read" said Velma.  
"Well I'll sit here and try to sleep maybe." Fred was tired. Stressed and tired.

All five members of Mystery Inc went their separate ways...  
Scrape-thud...scrape-thud...scrape-thud...scrape-thud...  
The noise started again.

Daphne sat on her bed upstairs, carefully applying purple nail polish to her nails. She could hear the noise. But she wasn't that bothered. It seemed to be coming from downstairs, so she assumed that it was one of the guys downstairs. "Keep it down!" she yelled. The noise stopped...then...  
SCRAPE-THUD-SCRAPE-THUD-SCRAPE-THUD-SCRAPE-THUD-SCRAPE-THUD... The noise echoed through the house, louder than ever before. All five members of Mystery Inc ran for the living room, to be together. Daphne was in such a panicked rush, that she left her shoes and her nail polish sitting on the bed. The floor felt awfully rough and dirty against her bare feet.

"Rhat is it Raggy?" Scooby was hugging his best friend close, terrified of the noise. They had left a sea of mustard, Scooby Snacks and peanut butter all over the kitchen, from where they had jumped in surprise.

Ecinaj woke with a start. He was furious. "You made her angry! You stupid girl!" He bellowed to the night. With that, he burst into tears. He knew that once Janice was angry, you couldn't calm her down.

**Note: Well, things have already turned nasty for our favourite detectives. Can anyone guess what's wrong with the village? Go back to chapter 4 and check out the description. See if you can spot it. The next chapter will have even more horrific and supernatural things going on. Might take a while to write. Hope everyone is enjoying it, and if you've got time, leave a review. It's my first story, I need to know how I'm getting on. (Thanks to Coco, for his review. Glad you like it mate. :~D)**


	6. Anger Makes the Voice go Harsh

**Chapter 6:**

Scrape...thud...scrape...thud...scrape.

After ten long minutes, the noise stopped. The gang had searched the entire house for a clue to where the noise was coming from, but it came from nowhere. From upstairs, it sounded like it was downstairs, from downstairs it sounded like it was upstairs. Could it be a simple rat, in the floorboards between the floors? That crossed Fred's mind, and he tried to tell himself he was right, but he knew he wasn't. Whatever it was had become angry, furious when Daphne had addressed it. All that fury...the whole team felt it, echoing through the house. A thick blanket of anger. Pure anger. Aggression. A desire to destroy. That was all that this entity felt, Fred was sure of it.

It was now nine in the evening. It was dark now. Mystery Inc remained huddled in the living room, at the front of the house. Normally they would be all split up, searching for clues, but when a noise came from nowhere and when you've seen an old woman who couldn't be there, and when you're in the middle of a huge forest with no one around, you don't want to be searching. You want to be running. Running as fast as you could. But they couldn't run anywhere till morning. The Mystery Machine was still in some train station in Baltimore. Ecinaj was back in the village (as far as they knew) and who knows what creatures hunted in this forest at night? Ghosts were a threat, but so were bears, wolves and whatever else might be out there. Bears and wolves could harm you physically. Could ghosts?

"I think..." Velma said in a slow, measured voice "That we should go to our rooms."  
"What?" Shaggy and Scooby yelled in unison.  
"Well notice how when we are together, nothing bad happens to us?" Explained Velma  
"Yeah, so like let's stay together!" Whimpered Shaggy. He often wondered what he was doing as a detective. He could barley look anyone taller than him in the eye. He actually wet himself when a police man once spoke to him.  
"No, she's right." Daphne cut in. "We need something to happen, otherwise we'll never solve this. Right Freddy?"  
Fred turned his head towards Daphne and said in a low voice "Me and you will stay together, as will Velma, Shaggy and Scooby. You're right, we need something to happen. But we mustn't be alone. Not until we know more about what's here."

Velma stared at Fred for a full minute. Then she decided to put her best skill to use. Problem solving.  
"So far, we've all heard a noise, and Fred has seen an old woman, and let's be honest, this place feels horrible. It's cursed. That's all we've got. I agree with Fred. me and the boys will go upstairs, you two stay down here. That way we've got the house covered from top to bottom."

They all agreed.

"Wait there, Fred, I'll just go get my shoes and stuff." Daphne said. "I left it all upstairs when the noise started."  
"Be quick" Fred replied, glancing around the room nervously. The other three were in the kitchen examining the food supplies. Daphne giggled, but it was false. She went upstairs to her room. She opened the door and looked on her bed. She felt sick. Her shoes and her nail paint. They had gone. They had been taken. Nobody had been up here since the noise started, and she had left them up here. She walked right into the room, to look under the bed. She ducked down, and then came a giggly girlish voice from behind her. A childs voice.  
"I'm right behind you, Daphne Anne Blake..."  
Daphne hastily swallowed a scream and went to turn around, to see what was behind her  
"Don't look at me, you silly girl...I'm turning round and shutting the door now Daphne..."  
Sure enough, she heard the door close. She was shaking with fear now. She went to turn around for a second time. The voice spoke again, but it had changed.  
_"Look at me, move another muscle, scream, or even talk and I'll kill you dead! You stupid little ginger pathetic waste! You reject! You lovesick wreck! You make me sick!_ "  
The little girl had become a full grown man. A harsh male voice had just uttered those last words. Daphne could do nothing, but sit there, terrified beyond her wildest nightmares. She was drenched in freezing sweat, and her blood had become ice. The little girl took over.  
"That's better. I love your purple shoes, Daphne. I'll grow into them one day Daphne, and I'll wear them! You won't need them again."  
"J...Janice Maplin? Are you Janice Maplin?"  
_"Yeah!You were rude to me earlier! Screaming at me like that! The noise isn't even me! I'm Janice! I murdered everyone in my family, and I'm going to do it to you! But not now! Get out of this room! I'll unlock the door! I was never here! I'm never here!_  
The door opened. Daphne looked behind her. Of course, there was nobody there. Nobody else had seemed to hear anything. She ran for it, back to Fred. She told him everything, and he believed everything.

Mr Ecinaj sat in his tent. Soon it would be time. Janice and Maplin House didn't tolerate guests for very long. He would rush in, and watch it happen. There was, after all nothing more luxurious than watching the deaths Janice subjected the victims to. It was all he craved, all he wanted. Janice let him have it. But it wouldn't be tonight. She was far too angry for that. Daphne's stupidity had denied him his pleasure for tonight.

Back in the house, Daphne and Fred had actually, somehow fallen fast asleep. Fred had lit a fire. Daphne had no shoes, and the premature was below ten. Cold feet could lead to illness, his mom once warned him. Daphne's bare feet were safely warm...

She peeped in through the window, watching the two sleeping unspoken love-birds huddled together on the sofa. She smiled. asleep, and helpless. She was in the room. She was moving towards Fred and Daphne. She was standing next to them. She was moving her arm. She was reaching out. She was an inch from touching Fred's cheek...

Upstairs, the remainder of Inc was less relaxed. It was colder up here. The three of them sat in a circle on the floor. They were all terrified. Scooby spoke to Velma.  
"Rhat did Ranice do to reople?" He asked.  
"Um...Fred said, bite people, colour herself with red pen, and kill...why?  
"Coz, like we want to know what might happen. Velmster, do you believe Janice is still alive? Shaggy wanted her to say no, and this time found the answer he was looking for.  
"No, I don't. I believe that she is still here, though. She lives here in this house, perhaps with some other ghostly occupants. But no. She can't be. That noise...it came from nowhere. She was a poor crazed, damaged and angry girl, and I don't think that even dying could calm her down. She stayed." Velma looked damaged herself.  
"That's like, what Ecinaj said. So it's ghosts?" Shaggy wondered why he was relieved by this news. Normally, it would have been the worst possible, but tonight it was the best.  
"Ecinaj? Of course...of course!" Velma looked triumphant.  
"Rhat?" Scooby never knew what she was thinking.  
"It dosen't matter! Let's go downstairs, get the guys. We've got this! It's ending tonight!" Velma really thought it was. Which only goes to show how wrong one can be.

The three of them ran out of the room, down the stairs, and into the living room. They then caught sight of their friends. All three of them screamed. All three of them screamed like they had never screamed before. Fred and Daphne woke up, instantly. They screamed as well.

**Note: Sorry for the wait, I take weekends off. I expect some of you will wonder how much longer this story will continue, and the answer is three more chapters. Following the tradition I've set, chapter seven will be longer and scarier and chapter eight will resolve this story. **


	7. Maplin House: For a Bad Nights Sleep

Chapter 7:

Fred and Daphne were covered in drawings. Drawings of knives, of torture, of pain, of organs and of skulls, all drawn in the same red colour. All over their faces, clothes, hair, everything Daphne sat up properly to see if her feet had also been drawn on. The shoes, the shoes that mysteriously went missing, that were stolen, that she never expected to see again. Those shoes were now back on her feet. Zipped up and on perfectly. She hadn't put them back on, because she didn't have them. But, like the rest of her they had been graffitied on. She knew that her toes were covered in drawings of skulls, just like her and Fred's fingers, but she couldn't be bothered to look. Fred peered down his shirt and saw that a wound had been drawn over his heart. A wound that if real, would have been caused by somebody ripping his heart out. They both had teeth marks all over their arms. Human teeth marks. Fred and Daphne had been visited during their sleep.

That wasn't all. The room had been torn apart around them. The fire was smothered, coal lines the floor, the sofa that Fred and Daphne had not occupied had been torn to shreds, and wallpaper was burnt, and the bookcase was trashed. A shrill laugh was echoing from nowhere. A child's laugh. Then it stopped. It was now midnight. Time seemed to be going so slow in this house. Six whole hours until safety! They couldn't last that long. Even if they weren't harmed, their hearts would surely give out, from the fear.

"This wasn't us!" Fred breathed "None of it was us! Velmster...Janice used to draw in red pen, right...and bite people?"  
"Right." Answered Velma, trying and failing to steady her nerves. "Listen...we need to get back to the village Right now! Ecinaj...we have to find him!"  
"Ecinaj? Why?" Asked Daphne, curiously.  
"I should have guessed from the start! How could I have missed it? Ecinaj, said backwards is what"?  
"Canija?" Offered Shaggy.  
"Janice! Ecinaj said backwards is Janice! How could we have not noticed that?" Velma felt like kicking herself. Perhaps if it was less obvious, she would have noticed it, but it had been staring them in the face.  
"But what does it mean?" Said Daphne.  
"I don't know yet. But surely it can't be coincidence We need to leave." Velma turned, to go to the stairs, to fetch her stuff. "If we hike quickly, we can get there before morning." It's a half hour car drive, so it can't take all that long.  
"Rut rhat if he sees rus?" Barked Scooby.  
"We can't go!" Said Fred indignantly. "We don't know the way, and even if we did get back to Hollersmith Creek, we don't even know which House Ecinaj lives in!  
"We'll just hike out, wait till tomorrow and ask someone in the morning. We can't go waking people up" Answered Velma  
But Fred was no longer listening. He felt like his insides had been emptied out, and replaced with air. He was wobbling on his legs...they wouldn't support him, and his head was spinning, tears of fury and fear were welling up inside his eyes. For he now realised exactly what he had sensed wrong with the village It was empty. There had been nobody in the train station, no one in the shops, no one out walking and not one house had a car parked outside it. They saw nobody but Ecinaj. They had all felt that bit safer knowing a village civilisation, had been half an hour away. He now realised that the only civilisation was three and a half hours away. He blurted out what he realised to the team. They were all just as terrified as him.  
"But why is it empty?" Asked Daphne. "Does Ecinaj live there alone?"  
"Ecinaj...it's him. All this is down to him!" Velma looked shaken, and peered out of the window nervously "And I don't think that he's that far away at all."  
"Well, he's in the village." Shaggy reminded Velma  
"Well, he said that's where he was going...what makes you think he was telling us the truth?"

Back in the tent, one hundred yards from the house, Ecinaj was starting to enjoy himself. Soon. Very soon. He could have some fun. Four young people, dying. To him, nothing could be nicer. The dog, he didn't care about, but he felt sure that he would defend his friends. More fool the dog, then.

"Whatever is going on, we can't go anywhere until tomorrow! I absolutely forbid it!" Fred spoke the last sentence aggressively He was the leader, and he was now going to use his authority. "It can't be all that far to Canada? Tomorrow, at first light, we'll just run north. We won't go back to the village or to Ecinaj. We'll just dissapear. We'll hike for as long as it takes, to the nearest town in Canada and report him to the police. They'll come and arrest him, and this will be over." Fred was growing more confident every time he thought this through.  
"But that still won't ever explain what the ghosts are!" Velma was angry "We have to solve the mystery! Besides , a train went to Hollersmith Creek, we could get out that way! We need to see Ecinaj!"  
"No! We leave it! Get this house torn down! Burnt! Make sure no one ever comes back here! That's what we do!" Shouted Fred "I'm leader, now you can listen to me! All of you!"  
"Or what, the only leadership skills you have a-"  
Scrape...thud...scrape...thud...scrape...thud...scrape...thud...SCRAPE-THUD!  
Mystery Inc froze. The noise had started again. With that, a bolt of lightning flashed. There wasn't even any storm. It was a calm night. But it turned all the lights out. The noise continued, but they were now surrounded by pitch black darkness. Then came the man's voice.  
_"Do you know now what he did! My pathetic father!"_  
The gang screamed once again. For the voice was in the room. No doubt about it. Coming from somewhere very close to them. It continued.  
_"We crashed and I lost my mind! Me! Janice Maplin! I lived, I existed in Keith Maplin, my brother. We crashed and I was lost! We cannot be together! It's not fair! My father separated us! So I separated us from him! My mother defended the abomination to her last breath! Ha! She went with him!_

The lights flashed back on just for a second. The team looked around the room, quickly taking everything in. And there, was the old woman, sitting right next to Fred. She wailed, a shrill wail. The noise was louder than ever. A little girl and a man appeared. Neither of them had a face. Their features were completely smooth. The lights went back out. The spectres moved closer. It was time.

"Come to us Keith!" said the girl.  
"Come to us Keith!" said the man.  
"Come to us Keith!" said the old woman.

Ecinaj stood up, unzipped the "door" of his tent, and slowly walked towards the house.

The ghosts attacked. All five members of Mystery Inc were attacked. "Raggy!" screamed Scooby, desperately Invisible hands were grabbing each and every one of the team. they could feel their skin being graffitied on. The sounds of smashing, of scraping and of thudding echoed through the small house. Then it stopped. The lights came back on. There were now red pencil marks all over the team. The room was in a worse state than ever. But everyone was alive.

The sound of a key in the front door could be heard. The front door opened, and in walked Keith Maplin. Through the door, into the narrow, well turned out hallway. After all, he had spent years making it look nice. It was the least he could do.

Ecinaj opened the door to the living room and looked around at the mess.  
"Yeah, time will be taken to clear this up, seen? Thought I'd see how the things were going, sweet?"

**Note: Well yeah, will the gang get out or not? If you've read chapter one then you'll know that they probably wont. Hope everyone is enjoying this, personally I think it could be better, but as I've said this is my first fanfic, so don't expect a masterpiece. Also, I'd just like to clarify, that Coco, who has followed this story since chapter one is not a boy, which I said when I gave her a previous thankful mention, but a girl. Apologies Coco, and hope that you are still enjoying it. Again, everyone who is enjoying this, or anyone who has some constructive criticism, leave a review. No flaming please, I wouldn't do it to you.**


	8. Truths and Murders

**Chapter 8:**

"Ecinaj" Said Fred, standing up to face him. "It's you isn't it. You've caused all this. Explain to me please, what's been going on."  
"Yeah, sweet and good in time, you know. I think your bespectacled friend already knows. Read up on you lot I did. What we got...Fred, the leader, Daphne the...girl, Velma the brains, and Shaggy and Scooby the greedy ones. Me always wondered how on Earth you lot solved anything, but you do." Ecinaj was speaking almost conversationally. As though this was a normal exchange, in normal circumstances.

"You tell us. I think I know, but you were there. Tell us all what happened, from the day of the accident to now." Velma found it hard to look him in the eye. She knew perfectly what he was like, but she wanted to hear the words come out of his mouth.

"Yes...I am Keith Maplin, son to Terrence and Teresa Maplin, sibling to nobody-"  
"-Rhat arout Ranice?" Scooby butted in  
"Shut UP, dog!" Ecinaj's voice had changed. His peculiar USA accent had gone, as had the random words on the end of the sentences. He spoke with a harsh and powerful English accent, that dripped in hate and anger. "As I was saying, I am Keith Maplin. So no, I didn't kill everyone One of us lived, and it was me. You see, I was born with Autism and Psychosis. Know much about it? Well, I always craved a sister, or a brother, but my parents refused. So I created one. In my mind. I have a fantastic imagination. Fantastic enough, I think to make imaginary people so whole, so rounded that they seem like real people. Janice, I called her. Janice Maplin.  
"But then came the accident." Velma continued  
"Yes. Now, I did sustain some brain damage, but it was very minor. Very minor indeed. However, the impact on my brain...it let stuff out. You ever read the Exorcist? That girl who is possessed by a demon? Well that happened to me, but in reverse. Rather than an external demon entering my mind, A demon which had been born, which bad been nurtured in my own head was let out. Janice, my wonderful sister was no longer a figment in my mind."  
"So, like...there is no Janice Maplin?" Shaggy was confused  
"Yes... and no. I am psychotic. I am a raging mad man, and I was a raging mad boy. I made Janice mad as well. She is nothing more than a spectre. She and me are connected though. I've been less than half a mile from here all the time, waiting until she told me it was time. To kill. She isn't alive enough to kill. She can scare people, she can show me how to kill, but she needs me to do it. She can trash things, she can steal things, but she can't take a life. You need to be alive to take a life, that's a fact. It can't be changed, or Janice could kill to her hearts content. Bless her. She kept growing outside my mind. She's a fully fledged demon now. Three voices, three forms, nearly endless power."  
"There you have it guys. Oh, and the empty village?" Asked Velma  
"Killed them, didn't I? About fifty people lived in the village. One night, I broke into each house, and killed them all. All the residents were dead by morning. Janice showed me how to do it. I couldn't have had much divine pleasure without her. I called myself Ecinaj to see if you'd notice. Janice told me how long it took you. Disappointing. Anyway, goodbye."  
The lights turned out.  
Ecinaj stood there in the darkness and pulled out a knife. Mystery Inc were terrified. Scooby and Shaggy held hands in the darkness. Then Janice spoke. Darkness did not affect her vision. _"By the fireplace, Keith! By the fireplace!_" Fred and Daphne were standing by the fireplace. They did not see, but heard someone charging towards them. They ducked just in time. But Janice could still see them. _"Left! Left!"_  
But this time, Keith was lucky. He caught Daphne's arm with the blade, and it split open. Daphne screamed, and that gave it away. Keith was on to her.

Scooby Doo was a lovable coward. For years, that had been his trait. But tonight he knew that he had to do something. Because Both Janice and Keith had missed a very big flaw in their plan. They, when they planned this, had thought of nothing more than four unarmed teens and a dog. A cowardly dog. But they had missed a huge advantage Mystery Inc had, that they never, ever used. But tonight they had to. Scooby Doo was a huge, strong Great Dane, with sharp teeth and claws. With that thought on his mind, he made a decision, a decision he knew he would regret forever, a decision that would scar him for the rest of his life. He let go of Shaggy's hand and sniffed out Keith.

_"Keith! Keith, behind you!__** Behind you brother!**_**"** But it was too late. Scooby had pounced on Keith Maplin, also known as Ecinaj the caretaker. He forced the knife out of Keith's hand, and went for the throat. Keith Maplin screamed, and so did Janice.  
_"Nooooooooo! My brother! No! No! No!Lights on! Lights on!_  
The lights came back on, and what a scene met the survivor's eyes. Scooby had attacked Keith, doing something that he had never done before. He had torn Keith Maplin apart. However, Keith was not yet dead. However, Janice it appeared had vanished. No sound, no moving objects, nothing. Daphne and Fred were wounded. Daphne's arm and Fred's stomach were cut, but that was all. Scooby was unharmed. Keith was powerless against him. Velma leaned over to dying Keith and spoke to him. Shaggy was huddled in a corner, shaking and sobbing.  
"Tell me this...is death and pain such a glorious and wonderful thing now it's happening to you?" She asked, her voice shaky with satisfaction.  
"H...help...me" Keith managed to stutter. "P...please"  
"Did the people in the village beg you so stop?" Asked Velma "Did everyone else who has died here beg you for help? Did you own parents beg you to stop?"  
Keith died. It seemed that whilst Janice could exist outside of Keith's head, when Keith's mind was gone, she ceased to exist as well. The mystery was solved.  
"Freddy...let's go home." Said Daphne, walking over to him. "We can go out into the forest and search for Keith's car. I bet it's close by."  
But Fred did not answer. He did not say anything at all for a few minutes. Then he opened his eyes.  
"Fred?" Asked his four friends.  
"You think so?" Asked Fred, in a little girl's voice. "You think so?"He repeated in a deep voice  
"No..." Daphne sobbed "Please, not him...Janice...come into me...Do whatever to me, but not him!"  
_"You'd better go! All of you! Run! Run! Run! Run!"_  
Then, he ran. He ran out of the living room, to the front door and away. But not before putting one of the floor's rugs over a heater. It started smoking.  
"Daphne, come on! Come on! We'll find him honey, I promise!" Velma tugged at her best friend, who had broken down into tears.  
"Yeah, come on Scoob!" Shouted Shaggy. This place is on fire!  
"Scooby Dooby Doo!"  
They fled as well. But Fred had gone. Into the night. Mystery Inc didn't know where to start looking. Behind them, the house smouldered and burnt. All the gangs luggage was in there, but even if something valuable or special was in there, it didn't matter.

Three hours later, Janice slowed Fred's legs down to a halt. She had put a good distance in between Fred and the others. She was by a river. She found some stones, and filled his pockets. She wanted to die. She could live in Fred forever, if she wanted, but Keith was dead. She had nothing to exist for. But before she left Fred's mind, she planted an image in his mind. A separate image of what had happened tonight. She showed him how Keith, under her guidance had killed his four friends. How he had overpowered and brutally killed Keith at the last minute She then left. She didn't die, because she was never alive. But she left this world, forever. Leaving Fred, alive, by a river, with stones in his pockets. Only now, he thought that his friends had been killed.

Tonight was the worst and last night of his life. He had gotten away, but he now wished more than anything that he hadn't. At least, he reflected, the river was deep, and the stones in his pockets were heavy. He was in a deep forest, perhaps three miles from Maplin House. No one was with him. The four corpses of his friends were still in the House.

The trees were rustling around him, and at two in the morning, it was bitter. Normally, he might have been unnerved, but after what he had seen but two hours ago, nothing could ever scare him again. Least of all drowning. He stood up. The huge wound in his stomach seared. Fred Jones didn't have to hesitate. He didn't stop to think. He plunged head first into the river. It took three minutes.

**Note: On the wish of an unnamed reviewer who begged that I would not kill the gang, I compromised. Initially, the four members apart from Fred were supposed to die. The image that Janice left in Fred's mind was originally what was going to happen. If whoever left that review reads this, I spared four of them! :~D**  
**Last chapter will take ten minutes to write, so it will be up soon. Maybe not tonight though, I'm going to bed.**


	9. File 007169

**Chapter 9:**

Scientific report, published on May 5 2012, concerning the phenomena of psychological creations.

It is well documented, that personality disorders and other mental issues can indeed lure a person into thinking that someone or something in their mind is real. However, due to advances in science, we have been able to discover that, in the rarest of cases, in the most unusual of people, these creations are able to become slightly more than just mind bound. As seen in the case of Maplin (1982) where Keith Maplin created a sister, a character of such detail, that when he suffered brain damage in a road accident, he felt genuinely bereaved. Is it possible, however, for creatures and fictions from a mind to come to life? Time will tell, but in the case of Maplin, it would account for the noise, the voices and the haunts that have adorned Maplin House since the day of the accident.

Would this account for supernatural occurrences across the globe? Further research will tell, but if it proves true, it will revolutionize science.

**Note: Well, that's it. My next story won't be a Scooby Doo. But I expect that in time I'll do another, especially as this one has been successful. Thanks to everyone, be sure to leave a review, and look out for my next story. If you like Daleks, you'll love it. I know that I really do make myself look incredibly sad, but I don't care because I enjoy writing it and people enjoy reading it so what the hell. **  
**I'm going to go and place some ice on my wrists, because all this typing is making them ache. Any questions about this story, inbox me. But don't expect an immediate reply, I don't really know how to inbox yet. See you round.**


End file.
